Eurozone economic confidence gets December boost
(AFP)

AFP - Confidence in the eurozone economy rose to the highest level for three years last month, a bright spot in a bad year which the single currency area wants to put behind it, key EU data showed on Thursday.

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Confidence in the eurozone economy rose to the highest level for three years last month, a bright spot in a bad year which the single currency area wants to put behind it, key EU data showed on Thursday.Regional powerhouses France and Germany carried the stronger-than-expected rise, but in a sign that the euro has yet to shake off its troubles, southern members hit by high debts and public deficits continued to fall back.

Frankfurt (AFP) - The economic skies above the eurozone darkened again on Thursday as data showed a sharp drop in exports from its two biggest economies, Germany and France.German exports contracted by a massive 5.8 percent in August -- the steepest drop since January 2009 -- causing the trade surplus to shrink to 17.5 billion euros.

LONDON — The schism dividing the eurozone’s strong and weak economies deepened to include its core pairing in February as French firms suffered their worst month in four years in stark contrast to prospering Germany.
The gap between the two biggest economies in the eurozone is now at its widest since purchasing manager surveys (PMIs) started in 1998, the latest sounding showed.
It dealt a blow to hopes the eurozone might emerge from recession soon, showing the downturn across the region’s businesses worsened unexpectedly this month.

Hong Kong (AFP) - Asian equity markets mostly rallied Thursday on strong US data and expectations for fresh eurozone stimulus measures, while oil prices gave up early gains to resume their downward trend after a surge in New York.

LONDON: Sterling hit a seven-year high against a trade-weighted basket of currencies on Friday, bolstered by expectations that British interest rates could start to rise earlier than previously thought on the back of some robust data. The pound has gained nearly 4 percent against the dollar in the past two weeks, boosted of late by data that showed British wages grew at their fastest rate in nearly four years in April and by hawkish comments on interest rates from a Bank of England (BoE) policymaker.

LONDON: European shares rose on Monday, led higher by Germany after an upbeat report on factory activity, while the dollar steadied following signs the US economy may be emerging from a recent soft patch. Euro zone powerhouse Germany's manufacturing sector lost some momentum in April but expanded for a fifth consecutive month. In France, the sector's final PMI showed activity contracting and falling for a 12th successive month.

OTTAWA — Canadian exports to the European Union have climbed a whopping 40% in the past year, more than double the increase in the value of shipments to the United States during the same period — although far behind our largest trading partner in total money terms.
Still impressive, nonetheless.

Spain’s two-year recession ended in the third quarter, underpinning Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s bet that exports can reboot the euro region’s fourth-largest economy.
Gross domestic product rose 0.1% from the second quarter, when it declined 0.1%, the Madrid-based National Statistics Institute said today. That matched the Bank of Spain’s estimate on Oct. 23. Inflation in October was 0.1%, the least since 2009, INE said in a separate release.